The order, entered by Judge Amy St. Eve on April 13, 2009, maintains the asset freeze against defendants ordered on February 19, 2009, when the CFTC charged them with misappropriating more than $4.6 million of customer funds and destroying records, among other things. (See CFTC v. Marshall, et al. No. 09-cv-1056 [N.D. Ill. 2009] and CFTC Press Release 5616-09, February 20, 2009.)

The April order prohibits defendants from violating the Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations, as charged, while the litigation continues and until the court enters a permanent injunction against the defendants.

The CFTC alleges that, between September 2006 and December 2008, Marshall, Adams, and BRM accepted millions of dollars from customers to invest in a commodity pool, known as the Trust, governed by a Private Placement Memorandum (PPM). While the PPM permitted limited withdrawals for fees and expenses, Marshall and Adams allegedly withdrew over $5 million from the Trust account and wired the funds to bank accounts in Canada, mostly in the care of Marshall. Furthermore, as alleged, Marshall and Adams did not disclose their unauthorized withdrawals from the Trust and issued false monthly pool statements overstating the value of the Trust.

According to the CFTC lawsuit, when Trust customers sought redemptions of their investments, they allegedly received additional false statements regarding the whereabouts and existence of their investments, but did not receive any funds.

In December 2008, Marshall and Adams purportedly closed their offices, destroyed company data stored on computer servers, and failed to acknowledge redemption requests, the complaint alleges.

In its ongoing litigation, the CFTC is seeking an order of permanent injunction against the defendants, monetary penalties, and other relief.

The following CFTC Division of Enforcement staff members are responsible for this matter: Elizabeth Streit, Brigitte Weyls, Joy McCormack, Richard Wagner, Rosemary Hollinger, and Scott Williamson.